My dairy experiment and testing gluten, sugar and chocolate

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

All this should have been several blogs, but for lack of time I'm rolling them all into one.
My A2 dairy experiment is done as far as my half is concerned. I tested the milk from 3 separate cows and neither one caused a response in the form of a raised pulse (or any other adverse reaction). Since all 3 of the cows were Jersey cows and statistically they are about 50% or a little less A2, I knew that the chance is not terribly high that all three cows are actually pure A2. I don't know when I'll get the results on that so did some further testing. I assumed that there may have been other factors then A1 vs. A2 that influence how I tolerate dairy as well. So I decided to give some organic grocery store cream a try to see what would happen and to my surprise I tolerated this well, too, even though I had had trouble with it before. There was a very minimal rise in my pulse but it may not have been statistically significant. The day after, my daughter decided she wanted to try an ancient (heirloom) type of wheat called Einkorn, which contains gluten but does not have some of the very toxic characteristics of modern wheat. So I decided to try half of an Einkorn cookie. There was no immediate reaction. But the next morning having some cream in my coffee caused a rise in my pulse, not hugely, but noticably, about 8-10 beats per minute. The same thing happened when I ate goat yogurt later that day and that should definitely have been A2 but I also tried a new treat, some licorice which does not contain wheat or corn but does contain a little beet sugar. I have always liked the taste of licorice, but not licorice tea, and this candy started cravings for more of the same, so I had at least 5 or 6 pieces.
The next day everything was almost back to normal in my response to dairy. Last night I reviewed the effects of sugar in Nancy Appleton's book and read that sugar can cause sensitivities to foods that are eaten together with it.
Later, quite a few hours after a healthy breakfast of berries, goat yogurt and nuts, I got hungry but was not near a store on the road. The only thing I could find was dark chocolate with hazelnuts which contained about 14 grams of sugar per serving size. I decided to get some, thinking that I could eat a meal a little later. My schedule changed and I ended up getting pretty hungry and ate 3 servings, the whole chocolate bar. Calorie-wise this was not a problem at around 500 calories. But my body really did not need 42 grams of pure sugar. After a little while, my pulse, which had been fine after breakfast, jumped up about 10 beats. So maybe I am sensitive to chocolate as well, or to a combination of cocoa and sugar.
My next step is therefore to continue consuming dairy, at least the raw full-fat dairy that may be all A2 from our regular supplier, but to completely stop consuming sugar, even in the small amounts that are in very dark chocolate. My dark chocolate-covered almonds will also have to go.
I thought about the fact that I could still make treats with nuts, cocoa and sugar substitutes but actually don't think I will feel the need for them. I'll rather try to get back into ketosis and enjoy dairy.
I suspect that several sensitivities and even allergies can work cumulative, meaning if we are exposed to several things at the same time we are sensitive to the effects may multiply.
I can't wait to find out about the test results of those 3 cows.

Lily,I don't test my blood sugar daily, but have tested it it a few times. My most recent A1c was 5.7 and it's on the way down (that is if I don't repeat chocolate for lunch, LOL). I'm planning to do some more research about the connection of gluten intolerance, sugar intolerance and dairy intolerance, in particular if people with gluten intolerance can handle A2 milk. There is still a lot that is not known and I know there will be more research.

Just curious: are you testing blood sugar? I'd think with your issues you'd do that. My mother is Type I diabetic. I'm not terribly well-informed but I'm around it a lot (and my foster-sis is type I).

I can't do dairy but that's digestion AND you've probably read how it affects hormones -- I get massive cysts from just one fatty serving of dairy (I can sneak nonfat milk but I don't want to push it). It always makes me queasy and erm... later loose stools but the cysts are just sooooo weird. I mean, ONE serving=BAM!

Yes, I had reacted MUCH more horribly to dairy after I had just been diagnosed as Celiac. I think the body does react cumulatively, and I find I can get away with a serving of dairy, and the more I do afterward it adds up to an "OMG WHY did I DO that??!" But the interesting thing is I never had an issue with dairy all the years in my 20s while I was on/off Atkins...it wasn't until I switched to Clean Eating and whole grains that I wrecked my insides and created all this allergy response. Granted the Celiac predisposition was always there, but I threw the switch with all that dense, GMO wholegrains. :(

Good luck, I have dark chocolate - 85% nothing less every day - I don't have a full serving but 2 squares of Lindt dark chocolate. I have never paid attention to my pulse or anthing else but I eat the dark chocolate as its heart healthy - and recommended by most food management books I have read including the Bone Building Solution by Sam Graci, creater of Green+. I've read his other books on foods as well, some of which I have blogged on.

Will be interested to see the results of your tests. I don't' do much dairy, not enough to care - I use mostly almond milk - but in cooking will use it in cooking if asked for in the recipe because I can't always use the almond milk. Keep blogging, very interested, cheers